EXODUS OF TOP RANKING GARDAI
Noirín O’Sullivan summons eight senior off icers as calls intensify for heads to roll in whistleblower crisis
THE uppermost ranks of An Garda Síochána are facing a drastic exodus in the coming weeks, amid the fallout from the whistleblower scandal, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Morale in the force is at an all-time low, with bitter rows and fingerpointing currently taking place over who is responsible for the series of fail- ings that have already led to the departure of commissioner Martin Callinan and minister Alan Shatter.
While several high-ranking gardaí had already planned to depart by July for pension reasons, their numbers are now expected to be swollen by other senior gardaí who will either leave voluntarily or be strongly encouraged to leave in a shake-up of senior ranks.
News of the exodus came as Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte warned of ‘endemic problems in the administration of justice in the Garda Síochána’. He said it was ‘manifestly absurd’ that senior gardaí had been allowed to
investigate allegations of wrongdoing against themselves.
It is understood that Interim Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan met a group of about eight of the force’s 12 assistant commissioners on Thursday night to discuss the scandal. Yesterday, Assistant Commissioner Kieran Kenny met whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe and told him that his access to the Garda’s Pulse computer system had been restored. Fianna Fáil welcomed the move and called on the Government to apologise to Sgt McCabe for the hardship he had endured while trying to expose misconduct.
Garda sources last night indicated that several senior gardaí between the ranks of superintendent and the very top of the force could be expected to depart.
One said: ‘What is happening is astounding. A commissioner has lost his job, a justice minister is gone, a confidential recipient is gone… and it will not stop at this. There will be others losing their jobs if it is found that there is
‘Noirín O’Sullivan will have to be ruthless’
substance to what other whistleblowers are claiming.
‘The general feeling among gardaí is that this has to happen and that heads are going to roll over this. If Noirín O’Sullivan wants the top prize, she will have to be ruthless and get these people to move on.’
He added: ‘There has been a lot of delusion and a sense of entitlement among senior gardaí.’
However, another source said that some senior gardaí would resist any attempt to remove them.
Some high-ranking officers were also critical of this week’s Guerin Report into the handling of the whistleblower scandal, questioning why senior counsel Seán Guerin had interviewed only Sgt McCabe and not spoken to other members of the force.
Yesterday, Opposition politicians warned of the damage the loss of so many senior gardaí would cause.
Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Niall Collins said: ‘The Garda is already being stripped of its experience and expertise through retirements in recent years. Another round of retirements is going to lead to a brain drain. A departure of talent for political reasons will detract from the quality of our force further.
‘There has been a massive structural fault exposed in our justice system but just targeting the Garda is simplistic and would only deflect attention from the Government’s own failings.
‘It is typical of this Government to shift the blame to everybody except themselves. Now they are blaming decent members of the force who were given no political support,’ added Mr Collins.
However, a Cabinet source said last night that the force deserved to be blamed for its shortcomings.
‘There has to be some degree of responsibility and culpability taken for this calamity by the Garda,’ said the minister.
‘There has to be quite a number of people who were aware of all of this in the Garda. There are bound to be some heads rolling.’
It has also emerged that the State faces two separate legal actions by Sgt McCabe – one for bullying and harassment and another for defamation – that are likely to be affected by the Guerin Report.
The MoS has seen an email Sgt McCabe sent to Mr Kenny’s personal office in August 2012 outlining how his complaints about failures in the penalty points system had not been investigated properly.
‘I made a complaint in 2008 of Garda corruption in Cavan-Monaghan and I handed over the evidence in support of it,’ it read.
‘All during the investigation Garda management denied any wrongdoing and informed the Government that there was no wrong-
doing. They were in a state of denial, denial, denial. The wrongdoing continued and the denials kept coming. If the Commissioner had to act (sic) on what I was telling him, the wrongdoing would have been stopped in its tracks and lives might have been saved.’
Friends of Sgt McCabe said last night that he sent the email on August 13, 2012, and it was acknowl- edged by a secretary in Mr Kenny’s own department.
The Department of Justice confirmed last night that the allegations had been passed to it from the Taoiseach’s department at the time.
Meanwhile, Government sources last night warned that the relationship between Mr Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore had been ‘severely damaged’ by the events of recent months. It was further damaged on Wednesday when Mr Gilmore was not told of Mr Shatter’s resignation until minutes before Mr Kenny told the Dáil.
Mr Kenny is in a much weaker position than he was only a few weeks ago, with speculation already mounting in Leinster House that there could be a General Election before the end of the year. The Labour Party, which could have a new leader if support for it collapses in the upcoming elections, will have to decide whether to support another harsh budget of €2bn cuts or go to the polls.
An uneasy peace between Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore has been brokered until the local and European elections in less than two weeks.
The details of the conversation between Mr Kenny and Mr Shatter that occurred in Government Buildings on Wednesday morning are not known. What is known is that Mr Shatter resigned that afternoon. Few outside their inner circles were brought into the discussions.
An uneasy peace has
been brokered
Mr Kenny relies on four main advisers – chief of staff Mark Kennelly, special adviser Andrew McDowell, media adviser Feargal Purcell and his wife, Fionnuala, who once worked for Charlie Haughey. Mr Shatter also had a special adviser, appointed in recent months – Jennifer Carroll, co-incidentally a former adviser to new Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.
Mr Kenny was handed the Guerin Report on Tuesday night. However it is believed that he could not read it then, because he was presiding over the Fine Gael selection convention for the Dublin West by-election at which Eamonn Coghlan was chosen.
It is possible Mr Kenny looked at the report later that night – but senior sources suggest it was instead handed to one of his trusted aides to assess and digest while Mr Kenny was electioneering.
Speculation has focused on the Taoiseach’s closest confidant, his chef de cabinet, Mark Kennelly.
Mr Kenny is sure to have discussed the significance of the document with Mr Kennelly before the decisive meeting with Mr Shatter in the Taoiseach’s office at 9am.
But Mr Gilmore was told only minutes before the Taoiseach went to the Dáil, after 4pm.